Victory over Kazakhstan Secures Second Place for Australia

Australia will face the Philippines for third place in Group 3 at the Sudirman Cup after a comfortable 5-0 victory over Kazakhstan secured second spot in Group 3A on Thursday night.

Raymond Tam and Gronya Somerville were given their first opportunity in the mixed doubles and did not disappoint as they cruised through their match 21-15 21-11 securing the first point of the tie for Australia.

Ashwant Gobinathan was looking to continue his rich vein of form in the men’s singles, and he took no time at all to establish his dominance on the match as he jumped out to a 7-0 lead. The young Aussie was never troubled from here as he extended Australia’s lead to 2-0 with a 21-11 21-10 win.

A win in the women’s singles would give the Aussies victory but Verdet Kessler did not have it all her own way. Kessler lead 18-15 in the second game after winning the first 21-14 before her opponent reeled off 6 straight points to push the match to a deciding game. It was as if the losing in the second game shocked Kessler into action as she dominated the third game 21-10.

With Australia having now sealed the tie with a 3-0 lead, Glenn Warfe and Ross Smith took the court together for the first time since London Olympic back in August. They did not miss a beat as they cruised to a 21-3 21-0 victory.

Closing out the tie for Australia was Gronya Somerville and Jacqueline Guan who comfortably sealed the 5-0 win for the Aussies with a score of 21-10 21-12.

Victory by Vietnam over Switzerland in the other group 3A tie meant the they would top the group with Australia finishing second the meet the Philippines who finished second in group 3B. Play will start from 5pm Malaysian time on Friday.